50
(All week we’re counting down the top songs of 2011. For previous entries on the list, click here. We hope you enjoy the music.)
A lot of adjectives could be used to describe our #1 hip-hop album of the year, Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up. “Accessible” is not one of them. If there is one song on the album that is likely to appeal to all hip-hop fans, it is album closer “Swerve…” Combining an aggressive beat with a sweet, accordion-like melody, and providing for more lyrical diversity than the rest of the record, “Swerve…” gives Descartes the middle finger, treating mind and body as if they were one. -LVL
19. Gang Gang Dance – “Adult Goth”
There are few bands more difficult to write about than Gang Gang Dance. Each of their records represents a dramatic shift from the one before it, and their records are so full of multi-ethnic influences that reviews of the band’s work often degenerate into adjective soup. Allow me to avoid that particular pitfall and tell you simply that their 2011 record Eye Contact was their most consistent to date, and “Adult Goth” is the closest the band has ever come to a pop song. Have a listen and decide on your own adjectives. -LVL
18. St. Vincent – “Strange Mercy”
In fifteen or twenty years, I suspect Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent) may occupy that unimpeachable auteur country, roamed for so many years by the likes of Tom Waits and P.J. Harvey. Her 2009 release Actor was outstanding, but all of the legitimate criticisms of that record (too sterile, too clever, overly orchestrated) were washed away by 2011′s Strange Mercy. Stripping away the theatrics and focusing on rock basics (guttural guitars, soaring vocals), Strange Mercy hits on all the right notes. The title track is a microcosm of the entire album, effortlessly shifting through a range of dynamics and emotions. -LVL
17. A$AP Rocky – “Purple Swag: Chapter 2″ (feat. Spaceghostpurrp & ASAP Nast) + “Trilla” (feat. ASAP Twelvy & ASAP NAST)
A Harlem resident with a penchant for chopped and screwed? A$AP Rocky is one of the top emcees to emerge this year, and his fantastic debut mixtape Live, Love, A$AP is chockfull of classic jams. So full in fact, it was hard for us to pick a favorite, so we picked two. “Purple Swag” is the wooziest party song released since 36 Mafia. “Trilla” on the other hand, is an absolute banger. Featuring smooth as silk production from Beautiful Lou and some memorable verses from A$AP Twelvy and A$AP Nast, “Trilla” is proof that A$AP Rocky is ready for stardom. -PTL
On a stellar album of sexy, sultry, seductive, and slightly creepy songs, “Plaything” is in a class by itself. Here, Hayden Thorpe’s signature falsetto slithers and leaps octaves over a groove that channels Prince’s best bedroom ballads. In typical hyper-literate British fashion, Thorpe declares himself “the very voyeur” and sings: ”Main squeeze/Unfold my body/I’ve ransacked myself/I’ve flatpacked myself.for your ease.” If this song doesn’t get you in the mood, then
God help you. -KLM
15. Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire feat. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown, & El-P – “Huzzah! (Remix)”
When Odd Future arrived on the scene they received a lot of superficial comparisons to Wu-Tang Clan based solely on their numbers. If anything has approached the spirit of the Wu in recent years, however, it is this hellacious closer to Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire’s Lost In Translation. Rising Queens emcee Despot provides the Inspektah Deck-style intro; Viktor and Heems of Das Racist have the type of inscrutable chemistry that Ghost and Raek share, Danny Brown is the lunatic ODB character; El-P’s cadence has the raw force of the RZA; and eXquire has the pure skill and charisma of a much more frightening Method Man. Let’s hope these form like Voltron again in the near future. -LVL
14. Battles feat. Matias Aguayo – “Ice Cream”
Battles expertly burst back on the scene this year with the stellar Gloss Drop. No song this year served as a better reemergence and battle (heh) cry than “Ice Cream,” down to the unintelligible, yet intoxicating chorus (courtesy of Matias Aguayo) and effects-gone-awry guitar riffs. Find a progressive rock song this year that inspires dance as much as “Ice Cream.” We dare you. -PTL
13. Girls – “Vomit”
Many of Girls’ songs provide instant gratification, the kind of pop perfection you need right away to pull you out of a bad place. ”Vomit,” the lead single from the band’s LP Father, Son, Holy Ghost, is not one of those songs, but it may nonethesless be the band’s best. The track opens with an ominous, minor-key figure that runs through the song’s first two-thirds, until a gospel choir reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig in the Sky” closes things out under Christopher Owens’ pleas of “come into my heart.” Powerful and moving. -LVL
12. Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
The title track of the Fleet Foxes’ magnificent sophomore record is essentially three songs in one: an existential acoustic blues that morphs into a peppy folk tune with lush vocal harmonies, and finally an arpeggiated waltz. In his trembly tenor, Robin Pecknold sings that he’d “rather be/a functioning cog/in some great machine” than be as unique as a snowflake. We respectfully disagree, but could certainlyget behind the song’s closing wish to work in an orchard. Mm, apples. -KLM
11. Gil Scott-Heron & Jaime xx – “My Cloud”
In a supremely tasteful change of pace on this year’s We’re New Here, Jame xx dubs out a previously unreleased introspective Gil Scott-Heron ballad in expert fashion. The melancholic nodes of the original are heightened with great washes of static bass added by xx. Truthfully, the brilliance of this song cannot be explained through words. Take a listen; a good sound system is a must. -PTL
Be sure to check in throughout the week for the rest of our Best 50 Songs of 2011 coountdown.
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